Be My Escape
by QueenMeenah
Summary: Upon visiting a shop across the street from him, Dave Strider ends up running into an old love interest of his, Jade Harley. With that spark still there, they each grow closer like they did when they were 13. Despite being in their mid twenties, they both learn together what it's like to actually be in love again. { M for sexual content and suggestive phrases }


Dave Strider sits back into the soft fabric of his directors chair, looking frustrated and annoyed. He clenches the megaphone in his hand, people scattering around to get stuff in order. He chuckled at the thought of how it looked rather much like it did in the cartoons, an angry director, and employees rushing around to please him. He holds the megaphone up to his pale lips, his red eyes peeking over the horizon of his shades which he ironically still wore after all those years. Of course, his old pair when he was 13 didn't fit anymore so he resulted to buying a new pair of aviators that actually fit the young man. Young...could he even call himself that? Mid-twenties, getting whites in his hair due to stress over the movies he now makes. The dark orange flecks in his ruby red eyes hardly showed like they did when he was younger and he threw his head back awkwardly, grunting at how old he was getting. He even forgot what he was going to yell into the megaphone. He mouths something, and then raises his head slowly hastily, standing to stretch his legs. His eyes track around the bright room and over to the clock, the hand on 12:00 PM. He then holds the megaphone up to his mouth again. "Alright, alright - lunch break everybody!" he booms into the mic and everybody seems to sigh in relief as they scatter around slower, taking their time to get their lunches.

Dave Strider on the other hand wasn't dining inside. He descends the stone steps of the building, pushing the door open. Cold air nipped on his knuckles and the very tip of his nose as he pulls his hood up over his silky blonde hair. The stubble on his face feels rather itchy, which causes him to raise a hand and scratch at his chin. Though, Dave wasn't going over to lunch first - first stop was the flower store. Don't even ask why he had to go, he just enjoyed looking at different types of flowers. He pushes the door open, which it made a familiar ding noise as she pushes his hood back down and takes a big whiff. The wonderful aroma of some type of air freshener filled his nose. Since this was a new garden store, it was packed.

He pushed past the people looking at flowers, trying to make it to the other end of the store to look at the most colorful flowers they have. It sounds like bees are buzzing all around him as people chatter noisily. But then, he swears to god he heard a young lady say his name. He shrugs, and assumed there was just another Dave in the store with him. Then he hears it again, "Dave!", and again, "Dave!". It was drawing closer to him and the voice rings loudly in his ear as he swiftly turns. A young lady stands there, a head shorter than him. She has round framed glasses and a toothy smile. Her eyes were emerald green, but brighter - wow. She looked oddly familiar. He digs in his mind for who this girl might be, not having seen half of his friends from before for a long time.

"Holy fucking shit." he breathed, pushing his glasses down the bridge of his nose so his eyes show, gawking at her.

This young lady was Jade Harley, a VERY VERY VERY good friend of his when he still played SBURB.

"Do you remember me?" she croaks, suddenly looking very worried. Dave shakes his head quickly to stir off the large headache that was coming on. "No? You don't? I must have the wrong person. I'm greatly sorry, sir-"

"NO."

He said it a bit too loud. A few people fixed their gazes on him and Jade, looking confused. "...No, you don't have the wrong person. Hi, Jade." he says slowly, a small smile twitching up on his lips. She grins, her buckteeth poking out as she throws her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a hug. He slips his arms around her to hug her back, pulling her closer to his chest. They pull away after a few seconds, smiling awkwardly and Jade looks around at the people and then back to Dave, looking as though she's thinking. "Well, this is my job." she says in a giggly voice, placing her hands behind her back. "What do you do for a living, Dave?" she asks, looking very happy. Before he could answer, she interrupted him as she saw his mouth open to speak. "Oh - let's get out of people's ways." she brushes off her smock and takes the others wrist, and leads him behind the counter and into a room. It had numerous beautiful flowers in the room and a sweet perfume smell met his nostrils. "This is my office." She smiles at him as she shuts the door with a soft click.

"So…are you like just an employee or…"

"The boss, actually! Valerie is the manager. Then there's a couple of other employee's that I won't spend time listing. Don't want to waste your time." She says in a happy tone, opening the storage closet and pulling out a cushioned chair, placing it at the round table at the middle of her room. Her desk lays to the corner of her room. She takes a seat in the cushioned chair next to him, crossing her legs. "Sorry I interrupted you back there." She says awkwardly, glancing to the side. "What were you saying?" she then asked.

What _was_ he saying? Her voice spun in his mind like a broken record, and he finds himself staring at the other. He took a long and loud gulp, and he could spot the concerned look on Jade's face suddenly.

"Dave?" she asks.

He snaps out of his dreamland, holding his aching head as he grunts. SBURB was coming back to him very quickly, his mind fogging over with everything that happened.

"Dave?"

"I'm okay."

He hardly noticed that she put her hand on his shoulder softly, squeezing it. "Do you need a drink?" she asks in a soft voice, scooting her chair closer to him and placing a slim hand to his head. "You're burning hot!" she cries and stands up, brushing his bangs back and pressing a kiss to his burning forehead. "I'll be right back!" she says to him in a cheerful voice and turns on her heel, ushering out to get what Dave needed as fast as possible.

His vision was horribly unfocused. He felt as he would pass out any second. He shakes his head quickly again, feeling as though there were a couple metal balls bouncing off of the walls of his head. With a loud gulp he fixes his hair wish shaky hands, resting back into the cushioned chair and shutting his eyes for a few seconds. The visions from SBURB had died down finally and he felt like he regained himself. He folds his hands and rests his chin on them, staring out the window. Rain was starting to trickle down quickly. Jade soon came back in, holding a water bottle that seemed to be cold in her hands. "You guys have a vending machine in this place?" he asks as he takes the bottle gently and Jade chuckles, sitting back down and rubbing her tiny hands together. "No, I went across the street to get it."

"For me?"

"Always!"

Dave felt his cheeks go hot as he took a timid sip of his water, looking down. "You feeling better?" she asks in a happy tone, still rubbing her hands together gently. "Yeah, now that you're here." He says with a smile. But that smile soon drops. Holy shit, did he just flirt with Jade? He glances to her, which her cheeks are growing pinker, a wide grin spread on her face. "Sorry." Dave says curtly, looking to the side and blushing as well. "You're such a sweetheart, Dave! Just like you used to be." She says, twirling a piece of dark hair around her slim finger, smiling. She looked like a cartoon character when she did that.

"So uh…you wanted to know what I did for a living, correct?" he says, crossing his legs and smiling at her. She nods quickly, seeming to be listening very intently, leaned a bit closer. "I'm a movie director." He says, smoothing the back of his hair awkwardly. Jade was astonished, giving him a wide eyed look, her green eyes looking as if they were about to pop out of her head. "So cool!" she says, grinning again. She always seemed to work a happy grin onto her face. "Were actually on lunch break right now…" he says, a timid smile on his face at her pretty face.

"Oh, am I holding you up?"

"No no!" he assures her, glancing at the clock. Time flew, and now his time was actually up.

"Well…err, yes. Here, let's exchange numbers. I'll take you out on a date tonight, yeah?" he says slowly, surprising himself that he actually had the guts to say it. She looked flattered, as she nods quickly with no word. She stands and walks over to her desk, looking for a paper and pen.

Jade had a nice butt.

…He curses himself for saying that inside of his head, his cheeks a bright red colour. He clasps them over his cold cheeks to hide it as she turned around and skipped back over. "Sounds good! What's your number?" she asks. He tells her his number gladly and she folds it, placing it in the pocket of her smock. "What time are you off?" she then asks, glancing at the clock every now and then. "6:00." He says. "Same here!" she says excitedly, clapping her hands quietly. "Do you walk or drive?" he asks.

"Well, I walk!" she says, tilting her head. "Why?"

"'Tis a bit cold out for a young lady like you to be walking around, ain't it?" he chuckles, and stands. "I'll pick you up. I'm only across the street, anyway." He winks at her. She blushes and nods, looking shocked. He takes her hand and pecks it, before turning towards the door and exiting and then exits out of the store doors.

"I…" he croaks under his breath,

"Cannot believe that just fucking happened."

* * *

He exits the building at 6:00, seeing Jade standing underneath the roof of her shop, looking around. He waves his arms around in a flail for her to notice him and she glances over to where he is, smiling broadly. She looks both ways before crossing the wet street, hands on her head to avoid getting her hair wet. Luckily Dave was holding a maroon umbrella, and he gladly let her underneath it with him. "Nice day at work?" he asked as they began to set off for Dave's silver car. "Wonderful!" she says, and climbs into the car. Dave shuts the umbrella and tosses it in the backseat, as he pushes his shades up to rest on his platinum blonde hair. Jade puts her seatbelt on as Dave turns the car on and they tear down the street.

The sun has already fallen beneath the horizon to sleep, and now the moon greets them with a luminous shine. The streetlights are already on, and rain pecks the windshield while the windshield wipers reject the skies kisses curtly. People scuttle away from the rain on the sidewalk, some having books to cover it from reaching their scalp and some having umbrella's looming over them. "It's really nice you're taking me out…" Jade says, pulling her raven black hair over one shoulder. "No problem." Dave says.

The silence to the restaurant was murderous. Dave felt an awkward feeling setting in his stomach and Jade seemed not to mind one bit. She kept her gaze to the window, a straight expression glued to her face. Dave noted how cute she was when she was in deep thought, but he kept his own gaze on the road, a smile on his lips. They park in front of a fancy looking restaurant and of course, they weren't dressed for the occasion. But who gave a flying fuck? They sure didn't.

They exit the car and Dave makes sure to drag the umbrella from out of the back seat, poofing it up so it looms over their heads. The path up to the actual entrance of the restaurant was very long and curvy, which took them not so long to hike up. Dave propped the red umbrella on the wall right outside of the door, next to the trashcan. As they open the door, a bell rings above their heads and into the restaurant. The warm air hits their faces gently, and Jade is still rubbing her hands together quickly, frowning.

Dave gets their table and they're sat in a booth by a rather large window. Around the restaurant had older people with fancy clothes on. While Dave and Jade stuck out like sore thumbs – wearing totally casual clothes. But it didn't matter because they were a unique pair. They ordered their food and Jade crossed her legs, hands folded on the table. "Well this is nice." Dave says in a oh so casual tone, pushing his shades to rest on top of his head to show his ruby eyes. People glanced at his maroon eyes, but he didn't pay no attention to him.

Damn, Jade had_ really_ nice boobs.

He had to stop himself from smacking himself in the face in front of everybody, and he's just glad that he didn't speak his thoughts out loud. It didn't take long for the waiter to make her way to the table with their drinks – she told them that the food would be done soon and she couldn't help but glancing at Dave's eyes before turning and tearing off. "That was weird. She was so curt with that." She says, taking a long sip of her lemonade.

Jade's voice was_ really _hot.

He felt heat going to his cheeks, chewing on the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from smiling. He drew some sort of a collective breath and looked at her up and down. She took note of his glancing and raised a dark eyebrow at him, breaking away from the straw of her lemonade. "Something wrong?" she asks in a voice way too sweet. Dave shakes his head, sipping his Pepsi casually. "Nothing at all, sweet pea." He casts a wink at her.

He caught a glimpse of her cheeks going bright red, as she bats her eyelashes and looks out the window. It seems as though the rain was coming down in sheets. "Gosh, It's horrible out there!" she comments, frowning. "Yeah…thank god we have an umbrella." He says in a hushed voice, resting his chin in his palm. He realized something peculiar – Jade's shirt was unbuttoned slightly, showing a large cleavage.

…

_Great googley moogley. _

His cheeks go pink as he feels the blood shooting to his crotch, fluttering his eyes. He glances to the side, trying to think of something disgusting to stop him from getting an erection. In public. In front of a bunch of fancy people. Mature people. Jade looked back over, seeming to not acknowledge her open blouse. The food came a few moments later, breaking the silence as Jade makes a delighted gasp noise. "Oh, this smells delicious!" she says.

They dig in as Dave focuses on something else. He lets his chicken and fries cool down as he clears his throat, trying to get Jade's attention. "So, what's your address? I need to drive you home when were done, right?" he says, with a smirk on his face. Jade looked a tad surprised, raising her eyebrows slowly and pondering. "Well…I only have a pen, no paper." She says in sort of an awkward tone, taking a purple pen out of her jeans pocket. "Write it on my hand." He says and holds out his hand – not the palm, but the back of his palm. (**AN: I have no idea what that's called**.)

She scrawled it over his pale hand, smiling. He nods. This was really far away from his house – about 20 minutes? It was closer to her work, while he had to drive quite a while to get to work. They finish their food, rain pouring harder than ever. Dave left the money there as they set off outside of the restaurant. To their surprise – the umbrella was gone. They stood there for a couple minutes and then Jade let out an angry grunt. "We have to walk to the car in this stuff?!"

They stood there for a minute, and then joined hands. Well, it wasn't Dave's idea but Jade grabbed his hand. He didn't blush, surprisingly – they then began to sprint down the path, rain pelting their heads. Jade places her hands on her head to block out the rain but it didn't work so well. They finally climbed into the car quickly after Dave unlocked it. They sat for a few moments, trembling and shaking before Dave got the guts to turn the car on. He drove off and the heating warmed their faces, and Dave let out a sigh. He didn't see where he was going, and he forgot he was going to drive Jade home. Since his house is not too far from the restaurant, he was there in no time. He sat back, car still running.

"Dave?"

"Mn?"

"This isn't my house."

Dave looked out the window. He realized he went to his house by instinct. He groans and grabs his head, almost ripping his hair out. Jade frowns, patting his back. "It's okay…it _is_ a long drive…" she said. She pauses, looking as if she was thinking about something. "You can spend the night." Dave suddenly says, catching himself off guard at his sudden suggestion.

Jade looked delighted.

"Of course!" she laughs, and they sit in the car for a few more minutes before getting out, the rain hitting them again. They finally make it into the house, huddled up together, and luckily Dave had heating.

"You can sleep in my bed—"

"Together?"

Dave paused. "Well, yeah. I don't want you to be all alone." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. She grins and hugs him tightly – it felt a tad bit awkward but he managed to hug her back in a warm embrace. "Uh…Dave?" she says quietly, looking up at him. "It's really uncomfortable to sleep in pants…errmm.." she looks like she was finding the right words to say. "I'll have to sleep in my underwear. I'm positive I'll trip over your pajama pants!"

Dave raised his eyebrows. "Well, alright." He chuckles and they ascend the steps to him room. The enter the dark room and Dave throws his shirt off, crawling into the bed and pulling the blanket off and placing his shades on the bedside table. "Give me your glasses and I'll set them here." Dave says, reaching out his hand with a yawn.

Jade places them in his hands and pushes her jeans down, showing stereotypical striped underwear. They looked a tad bit small on her. Her blouse was still unbuttoned as she crawls into the bed, yawning as well.

"Goodnight, Dave…" she says with a smile.

"Night."

And there, he fell into an uneasy sleep.

**Alright! This was my first fanfic that WASN'T JohnDave. Surprising right?**

**So yeah. Not much to say here! Review if you will, I worked pretty long on this. UvU**


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